Breathing, also known as respiration, includes a cycle if inhalation and exhalation. A rate at which breaths occur is usually measured in breaths per minute. A typical adult human has a breathing or respiratory rate of 12-20 breaths per minute, but what is typical varies by age, degree of physical exertion and overall health and physiology of human individuals. By way of example, a newborn baby may take 30-40 breaths per minute, while a septuagenarian may only take 12-28 breaths per minute.
One of the more common breathing conditions is apnea, defined as a temporary cessation of breathing. Apnea can be voluntarily achieved by holding one's breath. Apnea can also be drug-induced, such as by opiate toxicity or tryptamine toxicity; mechanically induced by strangulation or choking; as a consequence of neurological disease or trauma; or by strong emotional episodes, such as laughing or crying. During apnea, there is no significant movement of muscles used during inhalation.
Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. One may have sleep apnea if they snore loudly or feel tired even after a full night's sleep. The main types of sleep apnea are: obstructive sleep apnea, the more common form that occurs when throat muscles relax; central sleep apnea, which occurs when your brain doesn't send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing; and complex sleep apnea syndrome, also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, occurs when someone has both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. Risks from sleep apnea include high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, and heart attacks.
One successful way to treat sleep apnea is continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP (pronounced “see-pap”). This treatment uses mild air pressure to keep the airways open. This is accomplished by sealing a mask over a patient's airway with the mask supplying positive pressure by gas delivered to the mask from a pump or reservoir via a delivery tube or hose. While a patient may become accustomed to wearing a mask at night, they must always contend with the associated gas delivery hose, particularly as they toss or turn during sleep.